Age Group Ace: Miller's Crossing

Until November last year, Kevin Miller followed a program designed more for younger runners, calling for two to three intense workouts a week. Miller knows a bit about training hard as a youngster — at Topeka Seaman High School in Kansas, he ran 1:59 for 800m, 4:26 in the mile, and 9:29 in the 2-mile. On the road in his 20s, he ran 15:21 for 5K and 32:27 for 10K, times that he feels didn't reflect his potential. "I have a deep sense of 'unfinished business' that lingers from 30 years ago," he says.

That business remained unfinished, because at age 33, after being diagnosed with chronic Achilles tendinitis, Kevin Miller hung up his running shoes and ballooned to 218 pounds (from a low of a 132 pounds when he won the Kansas high school state wrestling championships).

"When I was in my 20s, I believed I could become a really good runner if I could train for an extended period of time without injuries," Miller says, but he never figured out how. When Miller started to come back to track in 2008, he was super cautious, but as his success grew — in 2009 he ran 16:43 for 5K, placed fifth in the 1500m and second in the 5,000m in the 45-49 division at the national outdoor masters championships — he once again found himself on the DL, this time with iliotibial band issues in his left leg. "I tend to work too hard," he says. "I was too aggressive with my comeback." Miller had to stop running in November 2009.

Looking for a new approach, Miller switched to the training system of Tom Schwartz of Denver.

"It's a more moderate approach, meaning the emphasis is more on building endurance and stamina over an extended period of time," Miller explains. "There aren't many formal fast repetition sessions; rather, speed is built in the end of tempo runs or 10K intervals. The concept is to leave your legs relatively fresh during training, and save the hard running for races. My overall mileage has increased some [from an average 60 to 70 miles per week], but it's mainly easy running, which is very enjoyable to me."

On the new training regimen, Miller first won the 50-54 division in February's national cross country 8K in 26:53. What really surprised him, however, was a 4:35.99 mile he ran three weeks later at the indoor master's championship, an average of 69 seconds per quarter. "That was 5 seconds a quarter faster than anything I had done in training," Miller points out. "I had not done anything under 74-second quarter pace since September of last year." He also easily won the 800m (2:07:42) and 3,000m (9:04.33).

Schwartz, who has a master's degree in exercise science and has been coaching for 23 years, says that most runners and their coaches adhere to a false and pervasive premise holding that you have to train fast to run fast in races.

"This concept is marginally true and principally false," he asserts. "Countless runners over the years have run their personal bests following base training that emphasized plenty of mileage, long runs and hill work at moderate speeds. In fact, often people will run faster in races during the first three to four weeks following base training than they will during subsequent phases of speed-work-focused training. Yet, the perpetuation of the speed work myth continues incessantly."

Miller is convinced that Schwartz's program works for him and his recent efforts seem to support his belief. "You don't have to get 'up' for the hard days," he says. "It simply isn't as stressful. For me, this is critical for year-round training and enjoying running."